Woman sentenced for throwing dog to its death off San Francisco parking garage

Posted Sep 06 2018 01:51PM PDT

Updated Sep 10 2018 08:25AM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN and KTVU) A woman was sentenced Thursday for throwing a Chihuahua to its death from the seventh floor of a downtown San Francisco parking garage earlier this year.

Wakeen "LaLa" Best was found guilty of animal cruelty, auto burglary and vandalism. The district attorney had asked for the maximum sentence of three years and eight months. The judge gave her a sentence of three years in jail with eight months of mandatory supervision.

“We asked for the maximum sentence because the defendant has shown no remorse whatsoever and went so far as to kill an innocent animal that got in her way while she burglarized a vehicle. The behavior is despicable and she needs to be held accountable," said Max Szabo with the District Attorneys Office.

According to prosecutors, around 2 p.m. on Feb. 10, Best entered the Stockton-Sutter Street Garage and broke into a Mercedes that was parked on the seventh floor.

During the trial, the car's owner testified that he had left his 4-year-old male Chihuahua named Dunky inside while he went to lunch. He found Dunky's lifeless body on the street a short while later.

Prosecutors played several garage surveillance videos for the jury, many of which placed Best at the scene around the time Dunky's death happened.

A former security guard at the parking garage testified that Best frequented the seventh floor and often had to be told to leave.

A dash cam inside the Mercedes that was activated but was facing away from the car, captured audio from inside the Mercedes.

In the audio, a dog can be heard barking as a car alarm is going off. A person's voice can then be heard saying, "Shut your a** up."

Seconds later, the dog's barking comes to a halt and the voice can be heard saying, "You little b****."

Prosecutor Asha Jameson argued that Dunky had caught Best off-guard and foiled her plans to burglarize the Mercedes. Although the crime was unplanned, Jameson said, "she needed to stop the barking."

Jameson said Best then walked over to a balcony on the other side of the garage and held Dunky over it before dropping him.

In a second dash cam video, a person enters the Mercedes and says, "Oh my god." Seconds later, a person with long dark hair carrying a large bag is seen walking away from the vehicle.

Minutes later, Best is seen exiting the garage from the first floor.

Defense attorney Alexandra Pray contended that while the person seen in the dash cam video walking away from the victim's car is indeed Best, another person broke into the Mercedes and killed Dunky.

Pray argued that Best was not Dunky's killer, as the ledge from which Dunky fell was about 144 feet away from the parked car.

"It doesn't make sense. There were closer barriers," Pray said. Additionally, Pray argued that if Best were attempting to burglarize the Mercedes she would have taken personal property from it after dropping Dunky. No property, however, was taken from the Mercedes.

The day after Dunky's death, based on the surveillance videos, investigators identified Best as a suspect and arrested her near Polk and Bush streets.